PDA

View Full Version : Cartridge Morphing



NRG
29-08-2009, 19:16
I spent a tense hour this afternoon turning this:

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l82/_NRG_/other/DSCF4412_800_600.jpg

....into this:

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l82/_NRG_/other/DSCF4547_800_600.jpg

....which resulted in one of those very very rare fookin'ell moments.....:smoking:....

:gig:

Dave Cawley
29-08-2009, 19:24
Wow! How does it fit?

Dave

Barry
29-08-2009, 19:26
I spent a tense hour this afternoon turning this:

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l82/_NRG_/other/DSCF4412_800_600.jpg

....into this:

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l82/_NRG_/other/DSCF4547_800_600.jpg

....which resulted in one of those very very rare fookin'ell moments.....:smoking:....

:gig:

And your findings?

NRG
29-08-2009, 19:29
Dave, its a slide and 'snap in' fit. The body is tapped for mounting screws....

Barry, first impressions are of something very very good...I'll need to gather my thoughts before commenting in detail....

Marco
29-08-2009, 19:50
Hehehehe... I'll not say 'I told you so' ('you' not meaning specifically you Neal) :eyebrows:

Nice one, matey - the old nail is looking mighty fine... :smoking:

The plastic (very resonant) body shell of the stock 103 is singularly what holds its performance back most. That's mainly why the 103SA, with its 'fancy' body shell, sounds so bloody good!!

On that subject, Mr Cawley, where are the ones we were expecting in? There's a rather important review due soon ;)

Marco.

Barry
29-08-2009, 20:03
Dave, its a slide and 'snap in' fit. The body is tapped for mounting screws....

Barry, first impressions are of something very very good...I'll need to gather my thoughts before commenting in detail....

That's fine - look forward to reading your impressions.

Oh by the way, what wood is the new shell made from?

Regards

The Grand Wazoo
29-08-2009, 20:11
Oh by the way, what wood is the new shell made from?

Regards

Ditto......

Has your pulse settled down now?

Mike
29-08-2009, 20:13
Looks like a block of Mahogany ply or summat. :confused:

DaveK
29-08-2009, 20:26
I spent a tense hour this afternoon turning this:

pic

....into this:

pic

....which resulted in one of those very very rare fookin'ell moments.....:smoking:....

:gig:

Great Neal,
Where do we place our orders? :lol:

REM
30-08-2009, 11:00
Hi Neal

Great stuff, any chance of a blow-by-blow account of how it went? Been thinking of doing mine for some time now and must have watched the video 100+ times but it would still be good to hear from one who had actually performed the surgery, is it as straightforward as they make it out to be?
Anyway, enjoy the new cart, going from stock to the Zu version was one of those 'jaw-on-the-floor, can this be for real?, night and day, heart stopping, wowie-zowie' experiences and even a couple of months down the line I'm still finding more grin inducing things about this amazing cartridge, you are in for a real treat.

Cheers:smoking:

Jason P
30-08-2009, 15:58
I nuded my 103 the other day, and it was fine. You have to be happy with the notion that you may eff it up completely, otherwise you'll be too nervous to do it though!!

Followed the destructions on the video, and made sure I had a nice sharp scalpel, and took my time - but I was surprised just how straightforward it was. The fine wires on the side are INCREDIBLY fine though - like less than a human hair fine - so that, IMHO, is the most likely culprit for damage rather than the cantilever. You'd have to be pretty ham-fisted to damage the latter I reckon.

Make sure there's plenty of light, and I also used tools for leverage - so when taking the shell off, you don't 'pull' with the risk of it suddenly coming free (which would do for the canti) but work it gradually off, alternating sides so it lifts evenly.

It's resulted in a much airier presentation, with more detail and space. I'd like to see how the wood body one sounds in comparison though, as I feel a little of the bass weight has gone form the nuded version.

Jason

jonners
30-08-2009, 16:53
I operated on mine a while ago, as described in this thread: http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?t=907&highlight=103+nuding&page=2
Since then I've added some reinforcement with dental cement, which improves things even more.

NRG
31-08-2009, 11:40
Hi All,
The wood cartridge body is one of Uwe’s, there are a number of woods to choose from mine’s a Panzerholz compressed wood body See: http://www.ltlewis.co.uk/b15.htm

Fitting is straight forward, the video tells it straight, follow the instructions and take your time. Use the same profile blade as in the video, don’t use the sharp pointy craft knife like I did as the tip will break and it takes longer to cut off the body.

There’s a good review at the Analog Dept which neatly sums up the sound improvements:

http://www.theanalogdept.com/uwe_body.htm

I’d also like to add that the review understates the improvement in HF detailing and separation, the see though clarity it adds to the HF and midrange was a ‘jaw drop’ moment for me it completely transforms the 103r presentation. This mod also challenges the theory that the use of a spherical profile tip is deficient in the HF department …you would not suspect the 103 with this mod is using one….impressive!

The Bass also improved in clarity and articulation, however, I did note a reduction in output at very low frequencies on some tracks. These are few and far between though and a slight lowering of the arm went some way to compensate for this. To be fair Uwe did point out that different woods have different presentations and that the Ebony version would have a fuller and darker presentation....

I also noticed a reduction in surface noise but curiously on some recordings it made sibilance more noticeable, this possibly goes hand in hand with the opening up of the HF. The tweak to VTA also helped in this area as well.

Overall the cartridge has a better balance across the board and the extra detail, texture and sheer musical enjoyment it brings is well worth the risk and hassle…recommended!

Just wanted to add that the addition of the wood body adds to the height of the cartridge and it may cause issues with VTA if there's not enough adjustment....also it adds +3gm to the weight and makes balancing out the arm difficult...wrapping some plumbers solder around the arm weight helps!